Sem. Break = Books & Photography :)

Assalamualaikum~

Alhamdulillah, I survived the first semester of Tamhidi USIM. After five months of roller-coaster life, the time I've waited for since the start of the semester has come... the semester break! And on top of that, my one-month holiday kicked off with two killer programmes: KL Photography Festival and book-shopping~! :D

1. Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival

KLPF :)

I was informed of this event when Abah messaged me a few days back. And yesterday when he fetched me from Nilai on his way back from outstation work at Melaka, he took me to Midvalley Exhibition Centre where the fest is still being held now 29-31 October 2010. It is really for the loaded ones (SLR lenses are all over RM1k), ha ha, but I still manage to buy myself a glassware and a few accessories: a close-up lens, a lens-pen and a blower; which made my budget glance from its original track :P

Close-up lens :)

Too close! And can be closer!

Look at that shallow depth of field... delicious!

2. Books, books, and books!

And today, my family and I went to a newly discovered 'arqa' book store: Dakwah Corner Bookstore, Section 14 Petaling Jaya. And we bought many, many books... stocking up for the holidays :)

Books I bought:

My books :)

1. Fortress of the Muslim (Sa'id bin Wahf al-Qahtani)
2. Sifat Shalat Nabi (Abdullah bin Abdurrahman al-Jibrin)
3. 100 Ahadith About Islamic Manners (Darussalam)
4. Means of Steadfastness in Islam (Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid)
5. Kindness to Parents (Abdul Malik al-Qasim)
6. Seeking Forgiveness (Ibn Taimiyyah)
7. 30 Ways to Attain Happiness (Muhammad bin Abdillah as-Shaayi')
8. Medicine in the Light of the Quran and Sunnah (Ahmed Taha)
9. Biomedical Issues: Islamic Perspective (Abu Fadl Mohsin Ebrahim)

Books Ummi bought:

Ummi's books :)

1. Simple Wisdom (Wahiduddin Khan)
2. Weakness of Faith (Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid)
3. I Want to Repent, But... (Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid)
4. Life is a Fading Shadow (Abdul Malik bin Muhammad ibnAbdul Rahman an-Qasim)
5. Berdakwah Melalui Penulisan Efektif (Hafiz Firdaus Abdullah)

Books Abah bought:

1. Tuntunan Do'a Ruqyah (Sa'id bin Wahf al-Qahtani)
2. Tuntunan Do'a Harian (Hamam Muhammad al-Jirf)

After that, we had a Western dinner at Station 21, Bangsar (steak!) and then went to MPH Subang Parade for... *ehem* and Zakiy bought himself a translated book by Keris Mas, Blood and Tears.

Zakiy's book :)

And Abah bought me my texts for the next semester, huhu.

Buy before they're sold out... learning something from the first semester.

And Ummi bought me a special book light! :D

Perfect... now I can read in the car at night :P

These are not all I have in the bag for the semester break... Abah also recently bought me two invaluable books: Tokoh-tokoh Besar Gerakan Islam dalam Sejarah by Saari Sungib and Menuju Kemenangan Dakwah Kampus by Ahmad Atian (PKS).

Great, great books... thanks, Abah!

Previously bought books from Dakwah Corner Bookstore:

I don't know when and where Ummi bought these...

1. A Commentary on Ibn Taymiyyah's Essay on the Heart (Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips)
2. How to Rectify the Heart (Abu Nasir Ibrahim Abdur-Rauf)

Not forgetting to mention books I bought at USIM:

Malay and English books bought at USIM :)

Arabic books bought at USIM :)

1. Kebangkitan Islam (Yusuf al-Qaradhawi)
2. Pemikiran Islam Liberal (Dr Ugi Suharto)
3. Sistem Politik Islam (Khalid Ali Muhammad al-Anbariy)
4. Etika Belajar & Mengajar al-Quran (Imam an-Nawawi)
5. Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature (M. Mustafa al-A'zami)
6. Al-Madkhal li Dirasah al-Fiqh al-Islamiy (Ibrahim Abdurrahman Ibrahim)
7. Awlawiyyat al-Harakah al-Islamiyyah (Yusuf al-Qaradhawi)
8. Fiqh as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah (Muhammad Sa'id Ramadhan al-Buti)

And finally... two monumental (series of) books Ustaz Adni gave me as a gift from Indonesia (jazakallah Ustaz!): Kumpulan Risalah Dakwah (or Majmu'ah ar-Rasail) by Hasan al-Banna, and Syarah Risalah Ta'alim by Muhammad Abdullah al-Khatib and Muhammad Abdul Halim Hamid.

Jazakallah khairal jaza', Ustaz Adni... too invaluable to be a gift!

A lot of good stuff to read during the break! I doubt if I can finish them all by the end of the holidays... he he.

If you guys want to buy good Islamic books, I suggest you to go to Fajar Ilmu Baru Enterprise at Wisma Yakin, Jalan Masjid India, KL. This store sells excellent Malay, Indonesian, English, and Arabic books. The main factor that attracts me to shop here is that they sell a lot of rare and interesting dakwah and haraki books. I bought my Fiqih Dakwah by Ustaz Jum'ah Amin here. Turath books, and other genres of books, ranging from the ones written by the salafs to those written by the sufis are sold here. More info here: http://www.fajarilmubaru.com.my/

Another recommendation is the Dakwah Corner Bookstore at Section 14, Petaling Jaya. They sell excellent English Islamic books by renowned publishers like Darussalam, and they are publishers themselves. Malay books are also available, but not a lot. I have longed for a book store like this; it is really hard to find good, INEXPENSIVE, English Islamic books. Yes, the pricing is like no others--very affordable! For more info and to get an idea of what they sell, visit: http://www.dakwahbookstore.com.my/.

Books: by first, read later. You will find the time to read the books. If not today, tomorrow. If not this week, next week. If not this month, next month. Or maybe next decade. But you will find the time. Even if you don't, somebody else will, and you will get the thawab (rewards from Allah) for letting others to gain knowledge! Definition oftabzir (waste): al-infaq fi al-haram hatta walau kana qalilan (spending on the unlawful even a little). Therefore, by this definition, buying books are not tabzir! =P

To my friends at USIM and Matrikulasi Kementerian (as well as other IPTs that are having their break now), do enjoy your holidays with something that will please Allah :)

Wassalam~